ot die, but his presumption deserves
punishment, and this he shall have,"--and was deep in fresh papers
before Hito had left the room.

Hito summoned Wardo, upon whom of late days his favor had unexpectedly
descended, and laid on him his commands.

"Friend, there be a dozen and odd slaves marked for punishment, who are
to be sent to the mines within the week. And among them is one black
brute Nicanor; he goeth first of all. Thus our lord commands. Thou shalt
go with them, with two men or three to aid thee, to receive their tally
from the superintendent of the mines. Make arrangements so soon as may
be, for I would be well rid of them. And if any seek escape by flight or
mutiny--well, there is no need to be over easy with them. They will not
be missed."

But for one reason and another it was full two weeks before Wardo could
get his people together; and by that time the festivities had begun,
with the first of the arriving guests.

First to come was Marcus Pomponius, Count of the Saxon Shore, with his
wife Gratia, a woman whose beauty was famed throughout the island. He
was a stately man, of the type which had made Rome what she would never
be again,--mistress of the world. His face was pale, and high-bred, and
graven deep with the chisel-lines of thought; his hair was hoary, a
silver crown; his eyes, under black contrasting brows, were quick, keen,
indomitable, as in his long-dead days of youth.

Eudemius received his guests at the threshold of his house, attired
royally, with a torques of gold about his neck and the great signet ring
of his house upon his thumb. Gracious and commanding, he made his
friends welcome with a courtly ease which no brooding years of solitude
could rust. Beside him were Livinius and Marius; and to all who came
Eudemius presented Marius as "my son."

So shortly after the first guests came others, alone, or with their
wives and daughters, until the great house was crowded full with busy
life. The stately halls, warmed, perfumed with exotic plants, resounded
with talk grave and gay, with songs and merriment and laughter.
Musicians played on lyre and cithara, reed and tambour; there began an
endless round of feasting, hunting, games, and sports. From the women's
side of the house came floating breaths of perfume, suppressed laughter,
a subtle emanation of aristocratic and luxurious femininity. And Varia,
the pivotal point on which all hinged, the least considered of all of
the household, w